Laker Guide Service

What We Provide

Let Captain Bryan Beauchamp show you the world of Striper Fishing! At the core of his guide service, he believes in creating close ties with each customer to best understand their fishing needs and preferences. Give Captain Bryan a call to book your exciting fishing excursion today! 502-817-6992

Learn About Us

Your Striper Expert

Laker Guide Service has provided fishing excitement to customers visiting from all over the country. With the knowledge and love of the sport, we invite you to visit Lake Cumberland, one of the best vacation spots in Kentucky, and schedule a Fishing Charter. Our service is equipped for individual charters with up to 5 persons per boat, and larger groups are also welcomed. Lake Cumberland is one of the most enjoyable and relaxing lakes in the Eastern United States with superior fishing all year long.

Captain Bryan Beauchamp has extensive knowledge of the lake, a courteous and professional attitude, and has a love for fishing which makes him one of the best fishing guides on Lake Cumberland. Laker Guide Service provides a new, safe and comfortable boat, with a full, heated enclosure, and equipped with the best fishing gear and fish-finding equipment. All bait and tackle are provided by Laker Guide Service.

If you have not taken advantage of fishing for a powerful trophy striper, you should make plans now to do so! Contact us today to reserve your trip with the guide service who can fulfill your fishing dreams.

Capt. Bryan Beauchamp, Owner/Operator

Laker Guide Service, 502-817-6992

Below: Captain Beauchamp with one of his trophy catches.

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Guide Services

Whether you’re looking for a fun, family fishing trip, a guys day out on the lake, or a large group trip to treat your employees, we will provide all of the professional and personalized services to cover your needs. Learn more about our service offerings below, and reach out with any questions.

Book Your Trip Now!

Lake Cumberland Stripers are the Best

We accept reservations 365 day a year by phone. If you want to be guaranteed of getting the weekend or weekday of your choice, now would be the time to call us to reserve your date(s). The Spring Fishing season is always excellent during March and April. What an exciting way to spend your Spring Break. June and July are a couple of the best fishing months of the year. Dates fill up quickly so if you are making summer plans, make your reservations now.

Remember that the fall fishing season also is a perfect time for striper fishing fun.

Reservations are available by calling 502-817-6992.

When your date(s) are confirmed a $50 deposit per day per boat is required to guarantee your charter.

Per person charter rates:

$300 for 2 people, and $50 for each additional person up to 5 per boat

Charter Rate

Charter Rate

Charter Rate

$300 for 2 people

$400 for 4 people

$450 for 5 people

Lake Cumberland Information

For more than 50 years people have been visiting Lake Cumberland and enjoying the many things it has to offer. Its shoreline measures 1,255 miles and spreads over 65,530 acres. The reservoir ranks 9th in the U.S. in size. Lake Cumberland contains the capacity of water to cover the entire commonwealth of Kentucky with 3 inches of water. The main lake is 101 miles long and over one mile across at its widest point and is one of the largest man-made lakes in the nation, reaching Russell, Clinton, Laurel, McCreary, Pulaski and Wayne Counties in South Central Kentucky.

Millions of visitors each year travel to Lake Cumberland to enjoy the many things it has to offer. Lake Cumberland has been named and is known by many as the Houseboat Capital of the World. Whether you are renting a houseboat at one of the many marinas, bringing your own boat, jet skiing, enjoying some water sports or fishing, it’s easy to see why families travel so far to visit Lake Cumberland.

Lake Cumberland hasn’t always been a recreational paradise. Over 50 years ago the early construction for Wolf Creek Dam to impound the Cumberland River by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers was halted by World War II. What was originally planned in the 1920’s and enacted by Congress in the 1930’s was resumed and the dam closed in 1950 to begin what was known as the Wolf Creek Reservoir. The Corp of Engineers built Wolf Creek Dam on the Cumberland River and began the creation of what was named Lake Cumberland in 1954. Wolf Creek Dam is huge in size. It is a massive concrete structure measuring 5,736 feet long and 258 feet high. Flood control and hydroelectric power was the primary reasons for the construction. Wolf Creek Dam is the 25th largest dam in the U.S. and cost $15 million to originally construct.

Lake Cumberland has since become a major source of tourism for South Central Kentucky. The lake and its many miles of shoreline is owned by the government but managed for public use. Lake Cumberland is home to over 1500 houseboats and numerous powerboats. The Lake hosts powerboat events throughout the year including Thunder Run and the Poker Run.

Make Lake Cumberland your next vacation destination. The Lake is home to two Kentucky State Parks as well as several marinas that offer houseboat rentals and lodging. Visit Lake Cumberland and see why thousands of people make Lake Cumberland their getaway year after year.

Lake Statistics

The normal summer pool is around 723 feet above mean sea level.

The tree line is about 725 feet.

The maximum pool is 760 feet (top of dam floodgates)

The top of Wolf Creek Dam is 773 feet.

Lake is considered at “flood control” level from 723-760 feet.

Normal power drawdown is between 723 and 673 feet.

The power generating capacity is considered “dead” below 673 feet.

At 760 feet elevation, the shoreline of Lake Cumberland is 1,255 miles.

At maximum possible elevation of 760 feet, Lake Cumberland is considered to be 101 miles long, with a total surface acreage of 65,530 acres.

Deepest point in lake: original river channel adjacent to Wolf Creek Dam: 200 feet

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Depth of river channel upstream of dam to Wolf Creek: generally 160 feet. ​Depth of river channel upstream of Wolf Creek to one mile upstream of Burnside: generally 120 feet.

Connect with Lake Cumberland Stripers

Lake Cumberland offers some of the best striped bass fishing in Kentucky, and springtime is a good time to test your tackle with this exciting, hard-fighting species.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has been stocking striped bass in Lake Cumberland for many years, and the resulting population has done well. Yet, just because there are plenty of fish in the lake to catch doesn’t make them any easier to catch.

Striped bass are roamers. They move long distances, from one area of a lake to another, usually in schools. This characteristic can frequently cause anglers frustration, because where you find fish one day there may be none the next.

One key to being successful in catching striped bass is locating baitfish, which in turn help you locate stripers. Stripers are usually heavy feeders and select shad as their main food source. As water temperatures begin to warm in the spring, shad begin congregating in spots where the water warms the quickest. Areas such as the backs of bays and creeks where it’s both more shallow and warm rain enters the lake are places to look. Baitfish may also come up to the surface off rocky banks and points where the sun warms the rocks and heats the water faster.

Sometimes when you find schools of shad, striped bass may already be present and actively feeding. Often though, rockfish (as the species is also known) may not move into the area to feed until they’re ready. Likewise, a feeding spree may only last a few minutes, or could last hours. The usual rule of thumb, however, is once you find good numbers of shad in a particular area the stripers won’t be far behind.

When you observe schools of baitfish on the surface, a good technique to try is casting a top-water plug near the baitfish and retrieving the lure slowly to resemble an injured shad. If rockfish are feeding, they will readily come to the surface for an easy meal. Catching a rockfish on top is one of the most thrilling experiences any angler can have. Watching a big fish explode on a top-water lure is an incredibly exciting sight.

If your surface fishing doesn’t entice any action, you can switch to several other methods that have proven effective beneath the surface. Probably the most consistent way to take stripers is by fishing live shad. You should locate in a likely area, such as in a creek with lots of baitfish present, or off a main lake point toward the middle or lower end of the reservoir.

Shad hooked through the lips or top of the back can be fished on a straight line lowered beside the boat. One way to find out the depth where more fish are holding is to put out three or four lines at various intervals. When a couple of stripers are taken, adjust the depth of the other lines accordingly.

Another variation of fishing with live shad is to drift a line or two behind the boat, using a balloon for a float. This technique allows you to cover a little more area and fish more lines at once, since the balloon will cause the line to drift out further from the boat. Tie the balloon up the line from the bait the same distance as the depth you want to fish.

Now in addition to working live bait, you can also connect with stripers using artificial lures. One of the more effective and proven is the lead-head jig and twister-tail combination This lure can he casted or trolled, depending on preference. The quivering action of the twister-tail imitates a wounded shad fumbling through the water and it’s often irresistible to stripers on the prowl for an easy meal.

Cast or troll the jig combination off points or along drop-offs in creek channels for best success. Working this lure under or near schools of baitfish increases the odds of catching fish. When casting, bottom-bumping is often the best presentation.

Fishing for striped bass can be one of the most challenging and rewarding kinds of fishing around. It takes patience and some knowledge of the species’ habits to be successful. But, with a little practice and time on the water, you can learn the general patterns of striped bass and have as good a chance as anyone in connecting with these silver-sided gamesters.

Catch and Release

For the conservation-minded angler, it is important to note that recent studies on striped bass indicate catch and release of fish over 15 inches rarely results in a fish that will survive the trauma and stress of being caught.

For some reason, larger stripers just don’t do well when released, and as many as two-thirds of those caught and turned loose during the summer die shortly after being returned to the water.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources supports catch and release of all sport fish except striped bass over 15 inches. Of course, anglers may keep legal fish but should discontinue fishing for rockfish upon taking a limit. This way, fewer stripers will be lost from hooking mortality, although all of them may he put back seemingly in good shape.